Hand weaving devices



July 31, 1956 H. EPSTEIN 2,7 56,780

HAND WEAVING DEVICES Filed Sept. 22, 1955 INVENTOR.

E MAN EPSTEIN z) \1' n 25 H R I BY AT TORNE Y HAND WEAVING DEVICES Herman Epstein, Newark, N. 1.

Application September 22, 1955, Serial No. 536,005

7 Claims. (Cl. 13930) This invention relates to hand weaving devices and more particularly to a Weaving device which is disclosed in copending application Serial No. 462,711, filed October 18, 1954, by Herman Epstein, for which the present invention is a continuation in part.

One of the objects of the invention is a weaving device permitting manual weaving operations with a minimum of care and adjustment and yet achieving a high degree of accuracy with a rather inexpensive type of weaving implement.

Another object of the invention is a hand weaving device having a needle guide and a guiding plate for the needle guide, the latter having openings arranged in register with the weaving pins of the weaving device.

A further object of the invention is a weaving device in which the weaving pins arranged on a base plate are protected by lateral posts which also serve as guiding means for a cover permitting storage and transport of the device without damage to the weaving pins.

Still another object of the invention is to provide on a weaving device lateral registration posts for a guiding plate, to position the needle guide and also to serve as a protection against damage of the weaving pins as well as a guiding means for a cover enclosing the weaving pins, thereby making the entire weaving device an easily operable as well as storable and portable unit.

These and other objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the drawings enclosed herewith, in which:

Fig. 1 represents an exploded perspective view of an assembled hand weaving device embodying certain features of the invention.

Fig. 2 represents an enlarged cross section to one of the registration elements of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows in perspective the cooperation of the weaving guide with the pin base.

In the abovementioned copending application the hand weaving device comprising the loom and the weaving tool, the weaving tool employed with the loom of the device is adapted to be pressure fitted to and enmeshed with the loom by ordinary manipulative pressure, such as thumb or hand pressure, and detached from the loom for use in the next weaving step.

The weaving tool is designed with partitions or seats adapted to receive snugly the pins of the loom so that the weaving tool can be precisely located in and enmeshed with the loom so as to prevent lateral and longitudinal movement thereof during weaving.

in accordance with the invention in addition to the weaving tool, a weaving guide is provided to facilitate locating of the weaving tool in the required number of successive positions.

In Fig. l in a manner similar to that shown in the abovementioned copending application, there is provided a base 1 with loom pins or prongs 2 projecting vertically therefrom and arranged in intersecting longitudinal and transverse rows. Certain rows of the loom are provided with yarn-nesting troughs 3 for holding warp lengths of States Patent Patented July 31, 1956 ICC yarn in a substantially horizontal plane above the base. Certain other rows running to the rows containing the yarn-nesting troughs are provided with needle guide troughs 4 of lower level than 3 adapted to receive a threaded weaving needle not shown.

In setting up the loom for weaving, warps and wefts of yarn are continuously laid in alternate rows transverse to each other with loom pins 2 adapted to prevent lateral displacement. First, a group of warp lengths (see for example 5 in Fig. 3) is nested in troughs 3 shown in Fig. 1, the lengths being held by looping the yarn around pins 2 at the outermost edge of the loom. Then a group of weft lengths (see for example 6 in Fig. 3) is laid trans verse to and on top of warp lengths 5 following which a secondgroup of warp lengths (see for example 7 in Fig. 3) is laid on top of and transverse to weft lengths 6 in rows skipped by warp lengths 5. The loom is now set for weaving.

To effect the weaving of lengths 5, 6 and 7, a special weaving tool is employed which is adapted to cooperate with the loom to depress selectively upper warp length 7 substantially below lower warp length 5 so that a threaded needle carrying another-weft length (see for example 8 in 'Fig. 3) can be inserted between warp lengths 5 and 7 along needle guide trough 4 to produce the partial weave shown in Fig. 3. This weaving tool 9 comprises rows of spaced weaving prongs adapted to 'fit snugly in the space separating the loom pins, the loom pins likewise adapted to fit snugly into pin-receiving partitions or other seating means located on the upper face of the leg of the weaving tool, generally intermediate and near the upper portion of the weaving prongs.

The partitions 11 between legs 10 are designed to engage slidably and fit snugly between loom pins 2 so that when the weaving tool is enmeshed with the pins of the loom, the tool is 'retentively held in position for weaving.

As explained in the copending application, certain of the partitions, generally those at the longitudinal ends of the weaving tool, are provided with horizontal intervening ledges or stops which engage the top of loom pins 2 so as to control the downward travel of the weaving tool, sufficiently to depress the warp lengths for the weaving step. Likewise, vertical or side walls snugly and slidably engage the sides of the loom pins during the downward travel of the weaving tool and together with the opposed sides of the partition prevent the longitudinal and lateral displacement of the tool during weaving.

In accordance with the invention a weaving tool guide 12 is employed comprising a flat frame member adapted with openings 13 to fit snugly over registration pins 14. In this position weaving tool guide 12 permits insertion of weaving tool '9 in a number of successive positions defined by guiding rips 15 of weaving guide 12.

Needle apertures 16 are provided running through the bottom surface of weaving tool guide 12 and permitting alignment of the needle when the weaving tool is completely enmeshed with the loom for weaving. Tool guide 12 is first fitted over the registration pins 14 as shown in Fig. 2 and weaving tool 9 then fitted onto the tool guide 12. Thus, when pressure is lightly applied to the weaving tool, the weaving tool moves downwardly between rips 15 and loom pins 2 in a predetermined position.

The ability of .the weaving tool 9 under control of the weaving guide 12 in accordance with the invention to rapidly and securely engage itself with the loom simplifies the weaving steps and also is effective in providing woven fabric of improved uniformity.

.Both weaving guide 12 and weaving tool 9 can be made with any number of prongs of predetermined groups of prongs provided the prongs are less in number than the standard weave. By varying the number of prongs and the distance between them in any desired sequence,

different design patterns can be woven, as also indicated in the abovementioned copending patent application.

As apparent from Figs. 1 and 2, the positioning movement of weaving guide 12 on registration pins 14 is limited and determined by radial projections 17, 18, on each of the four registration pins 14.

Radial projections 17, 18 extend perpendicular to each other in a direction parallel to adjoining perpendicular sides of needle base 1 and up, or at least close to the edges of needle base 1, within a distance determined by the thickness of a cover as will be explained further below.

Registration pins 14 such as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and especially as provided with perpendicular radial projections 17, 18, have been found to provide protection for the weaving pins 2 against breakage in case pin base 1 is dropped on the floor or otherwise roughly handled.

Another function of registration pins 14, and especially of radial projections 17, 18, is to provide supporting elements for a cover 19, the inside of which is so dimensioned as to fit snugly and under light pressure or deformation, over the outer vertical edges of radial projections 17, 18, thereby providing a complete enclosure of needle base 1 and a unit which is not only readily operable but also easily storable and portable with least risk of damage to its operating elements.

In Fig. 1, base plate 1 is shown to be provided along its edges with indentations or marks designating the two successions of rows to be threaded and facilitating the threading of the yarn. Thus on the left, rows 20 to 23 marked with dashes extend to corner 24. Rows 25 to 28 marked with points extend to corner 35. Rows marked 31 to 33 extend from corner 24 to corner 40, while dash rows 36 to 39 extend from corner 35 to corner 24. Rows between corners 29 and 40 and between corners 29 and 35 are marked identically to those between corners 24 and 35, except displaced by two rows.

In accordance with this feature of the invention, threading may be started in the center of the drawing at corner 24 at dash mark 39.

The thread emerging at the rear is then passed over an adjoining rear dash mark not shown to emerge again at the front, and after having passed over the next front dash marks 38, 37 and 36 and corresponding rear dash marks not shown, the thread will emerge at the front at corner 35.

After turning around corner 35 the thread is passed over point marks 23, 22, 21 and 20 and corresponding opposite side point marks not shown, to emerge at the front corner 40.

Thereafter and after rounding corner 40 the thread is passed over a rear point mark not shown to the front from where, after having passed front point marks 25, 26 and 27 and corresponding rear double point marks not shown, it will emerge at the rear near corner 29, thus terminating the three layer cycle preceding the weaving operation proper, with a minimum of skill and memory requirements.

Thereafter, this weaving operation is accomplished with the aid of the weaving tool 9 which is moved from one channel member 15 to the next adjoining channel member of weaving guide 12, in an appropriate position of weaving guide 12 on registration pins 14, in accordance with another feature of the invention as explained above.

It is important that the weaving guide as well as weaving tool and the loom be made of suitable material having spring-like properties, dimensioned stability and adequate strength. A preferred material is one made of heatsetting plastic, for example a styrene acrylonitrile copolymer material for thermoplastic injection molding and other types of plastic having the aforementioned desired properties. One such styrene acrylonitrile copolymer material which has been found very suitable is manufactured by the Union Carbide and Carbon Chemical Company and designated as RMF 4000 N1.

It is important the material have spring-like properties so that the Weaving guide can be snugly fitted to cooperate with weaving tool and loom merely by press fitting the two together so that when downward pressure is applied, the weaving tool prongs with spring-like properties will be held substantially precisely where needed and the pins similarly will be retained snugly by the partitions and ledges of the weaving tool with minimum effort required to hold the depressed yarns in place while the weave is being made. The plastic material should also be dimensionally stable so that it does not warp or shrink intolerably in service. The strength should be adequate to withstand consumer use.

While the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the invention and the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a hand weaving device, a weaving base having a number of weaving pins extending therefrom and permitting yarn to be arranged in serpentine fashion and in several perpendicular layers, a weaving guide supported on said base in a predetermined position over said rows of pins and having a number of channel members in register with said rows of pins, and a needle guide adapted to be positioned successively in said channel members in predetermined positions over said rows of pins to permit the yarn to be inserted alternatively above and below adjacent strands, in a number of successive operations.

2. Hand weaving device according to claim 1, wherein said weaving guide is supported on a number of registration pins arranged on said weaving base outside of said weaving pins.

3. Hand weaving device according to claim 1, wherein said registration pins have perpendicular flaps radially extending therefrom; there also being provided a cover adapted to enclose said pins, said flaps on said registration pins serving as guiding means for said cover.

4. Hand weaving device according to claim 2, wherein said weaving guide has a thickness corresponding to the height of the registration pin over said radial flaps.

5. Hand weaving device according to claim 1, wherein said weaving guide consists of a quadrangular frame having inside projections representing guiding channels for the needle guide.

6. Hand weaving device according to claim 4, wherein at least one side of said guiding frame is provided with semi-circular grooves aligned with said channel members to provide guiding means for a weaving needle.

7. Hand weaving device according to claim 4, wherein said projections extend perpendicularly inside of and from opposite sides of said frame to only a portion of its area so as to reduce friction between the walls of the channels and the needle guide without affecting accuracy of adjustment of the needle guide with respect to the weaving guide and thereby with respect to the weaving pins.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,999,478 Reber Apr. 30, 1935 2,241,199 Hines et a1. May 6, 1941 2,463,365 Epstein n- Mar. 1, 1949 2,566,657 Epstein Sept. 4, 1951 

